Forward Deployed Engineer

✅ WILL SPONSOR H1B AND GC About Applix Applix builds AI-powered software for complex industrial and enterprise operations. We work with large organizations to turn fragmented data, operational knowledge, and difficult business problems into software that helps teams make better decisions. Our work sits at the intersection of software engineering, data, machine learning, and real-world operations. We build systems that have to work with messy enterprise data, integrate into existing environments, and deliver measurable value in production. About the role We are looking for an exceptional Forward Deployed Engineer who can move between customer problems and technical implementation. You will work directly with customers to understand how their business actually operates, translate ambiguous problems into technical requirements, and build software that solves them. That may mean understanding an operational workflow one day, writing Python and SQL the next, working with an ML or optimization engineer on a model, and deploying the resulting application into a customer's environment. This is not a traditional implementation or solutions engineering role. You will write production code and own real technical outcomes. You will work closely with customer stakeholders as well as Applix's software, data, and AI teams from initial discovery through deployment, validation, and iteration. The best Forward Deployed Engineers are comfortable operating without a detailed specification. They can walk into an unfamiliar domain, understand how decisions are being made today, identify what matters, and turn that understanding into working software. What you will do Work directly with customers to understand operational workflows, business constraints, data, and decision-making processes.Translate ambiguous customer problems into clear technical requirements and executable product plans.Build production software using technologies such as Python, SQL, APIs, and modern data infrastructure.Integrate with customer data sources, enterprise systems, APIs, and existing applications.Work with large, imperfect datasets and determine what data is trustworthy, missing, or required to solve a problem.Partner with data scientists, ML engineers, optimization engineers, and software engineers to turn models and analysis into usable products.Build applications and workflows that surface recommendations, insights, and decision support to end users.Deploy solutions into customer environments and own them through testing, validation, production rollout, and iteration.Investigate problems across the entire stack rather than stopping at the boundary of your immediate responsibility.Gather feedback from users, understand where the product does not match reality, and rapidly improve it.Communicate technical trade-offs and results clearly to both technical teams and business stakeholders.Identify additional problems where Applix technology can create value as you develop a deeper understanding of the customer's business.Help shape our engineering practices, product direction, and Forward Deployed Engineering team as Applix grows. What we're looking for Strong software engineering fundamentals and experience building real-world software systems.4+ years of professional software engineering, data engineering, ML engineering, or similarly technical experience.Proficiency in Python and SQL.Ability to work comfortably across software, data, and applied AI problems.Strong analytical ability and an instinct for digging beneath symptoms to understand the underlying problem.Ability to quickly understand unfamiliar systems, datasets, and business domains.Comfort working directly with customers and navigating ambiguous requirements.Excellent written and verbal communication.High level of ownership, you are willing to follow a problem from initial discovery through production.Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Ideal background We are especially interested in engineers with strong technical foundations who have combined rigorous academics with meaningful industry experience. Examples of backgrounds that tend to fit this role well include: Graduates of highly selective engineering and computer science programs such as the University of Michigan, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, UIUC, UT Austin, or comparable universities.Candidates who completed their undergraduate education at a top tier institute in India, spent several years working as a software, data, or ML engineer, and later completed a Master's degree at a leading U.S. engineering or computer science program.Engineers who have worked in demanding technical environments before graduate school and can combine hands-on execution with strong analytical depth.Candidates who have demonstrated the ability to move between engineering, customer conversations, and business problems rather than specializing narrowly in one layer of the stack. Academic pedigree alone is not sufficient. We care most about whether you can take an ambiguous real-world problem, understand it deeply, and build something that works. Bonus points Experience building or deploying machine learning systems.Experience with enterprise data platforms, data pipelines, or large-scale operational datasets.Experience integrating with ERP, manufacturing, supply chain, or other enterprise systems.Experience taking a technical product from prototype through production deployment.Experience working directly with operators, engineers, analysts, or business stakeholders.Previous experience as a Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer, founding engineer, or in another highly customer-facing technical role.Experience working in industrial, manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, or similarly complex operational environments.Experience working across both Indian and U.S. engineering environments or with globally distributed technical teams.